Without a net Talk about a high-wire act. On his fourth full-length album in as many years, young songwriter/performer/engineer Jeff Beam has set out to make an important album that's listenable, a record that both challenges ideas about pop music and embraces them.

Call it a comeback Why do musicians make the music they make? It's not a question we're going to answer here, but it's one that's constantly to the fore when listening to the brand-new From the Floor Up , the first record released by hip-hop duo A-Frame and Mike Clouds in about five years.

In the studio Why do bands still pursue label deals? Let's ask Sparks the Rescue, who just finished up seven weeks working with producer/engineer Jonathan Wyman out at his studio in Windham, all on the Fearless Records dime.

Get kraken Jason Spooner is an amalgamation of John Prine and John Mayer — great songs and great hair, all in one package. Their aesthetics are similar, too. Sure, there are important and wounded songs in the bag, but these guys aren't afraid to have a good time, either.

Half and half Portland hasn't had a band like the Cyborg Trio in while. They're almost certainly the best/only live all-instrumental dance band since Slowing Room stopped playing out (and they actually had some vocals sometimes). Also, Slowing Room had, well, songs.

Good and evil Roots music is a big tent. The Molenes have poked their noses into just about every corner of it over the course of their first two records, trying out everything from bluegrass to rockabilly and moving from ripping twanged-out guitar solos to more refined acoustic finger-picking.

Reopenings There's no question that the reopening of the State Theatre has people in this town pretty damn excited. As photos of the reconstruction have leaked out, the fever has built, often almost completely irrespective of that bands that have so far been lined up to play its stage.